New UFC VP of athlete development Matt Hughes won't consider himself 'policeman'

CHICAGO – Along with the announcement of Matt Hughes’ retirement on Thursday came the announcement that he’ll enter into a new role with the company, and he’ll do so at a time the promotion is implementing an official written code of conduct for its athletes.

UFC President Dana White and Lawrence Epstein, the promotion’s general counsel, delivered the news on Thursday prior to a news conference for Saturday’s UFC on FOX 6 event at United Center in Chicago.

A code of conduct, Epstein said, is not new for the UFC. But putting it in written form is. Hughes, a UFC Hall of Famer and longtime welterweight champion who now moves into a new role as the UFC’s vice president of athlete development, a job that also will have him involved with government relations, will be an important part of the code’s implementation.

“There will be a huge connection from what Matt does, and also our new code of conduct,” Epstein said. “It really isn’t something that’s new. It’s something that, frankly, is the first time it’s put in writing. But we’ve always felt that our athletes need to live up to a high level of conduct and make sure that everything they’re doing, both inside the octagon and outside, is compliant with the high standards of the UFC.”

White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the UFC built the role with Hughes in mind. White has long maintained that once Hughes retired, he would have a job waiting for him with the UFC.

But it still took some convincing to get Hughes to officially hang up the gloves, White said, even though he hasn’t fought since September 2011.

“Hughes was the guy. We created that position for Hughes,” White said. “I’ve been fighting with that guy for almost two years. I’ve wanted him to retire, and he doesn’t want to retire. He didn’t want to retire right up to his retirement. He wanted another fight. He was asking me for another fight. If I offered him a fight right now, he’d take it.”

White said part of Hughes’ new gig will be to work with UFC fighters in what will amount to a mentor-type of role.

“His job is going to be to come to events, start to meet these guys, immerse himself back into the sport watching these guys and knowing these guys,” White said. “Hughes is going to help dive in and create relationships.”

Hughes told MMAjunkie.com he has some ideas in the early going about what his job might wind up being. And from the sounds of it, he doesn’t think he’ll have to be a babysitter.

Hughes said one example where he may have gotten involved was this past August’s controversial situation between light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen. When Jones didn’t take a fight with Sonnen on eight days’ notice, the UFC canceled its’ UFC 151 pay-per-view.

“The first thing I’d say is, I’m not considered a policeman and I don’t consider myself a policeman,” Hughes said. “I see myself as more of a liaison. We’re going to use the Jones incident, where he wouldn’t take the fight against Chael. After digesting all the facts, maybe I’d go to Jones and say, ‘Hey, I think you need to take this fight. There’s nothing wrong with taking this fight.’ Or I could look at all the facts and say, ‘He’s got a point here. If it was me, I wouldn’t take the fight.’

“So that’s going to be my role: Go into a situation, look at the facts, talk to the parties and come up with my conclusion.”

Epstein said he sees Hughes’ role as being a vital one as the promotion continues to expand.

“He’s going to be the mentor to all of the 400-plus UFC athletes that are with us and that will come in the future,” Epstein said. “He comes with a very unique set of experiences. He’s obviously been at the highest levels of our sport, being a champion. He understands what it takes to go from a virtually unknown person to someone who’s incredibly famous, and also the challenges that come along with it. He’s going to be providing that experience to our athletes.”

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